Why Do People Not OC?

[ST4RCUTTER]

I'm happy you had 2 weeks to spare, I take it you didn't do any cruical work in that time period.

Not really. It's a personal computer, not a workstation for NASA. Which validates my previous reply...


Damage to hardware components can be cumalative, parts get weakened and may fail at a later date.
You don't know how far you have shortened the life of that piece, could've just brought it's life down fron 15 years to 10 years, or you could've given it only a couple of weeks/months left to live.

I won't speculate on the future, but I can tell you about the past. I've overclocked every box I've owned since 98'. No failed cards, CPU's, mobos etc. Maybe I'm just lucky. As I've said, these chips leave the factory stamped with a conservative speed to protect their manufacturer. It's a risk/reward situation for the overclocker.



The worst part from running an overclocked system is the time it takes troubleshooting when things go wrong. So your overclocked comp starts acting a little funky, you're starting to get BSOD, you have been OC'ing by multiplyer, by fsb you OC'ed your gfx card, your memory is running out of spec. So which component is fscking up? Do you have a variety of cards, mem sticks, mobo's, cpus to swap out for testing? Do you have a couple of weeks/months to sort out the problem 'cos that's how long it's gonner take, it did me in the past. Do you have time to RMA the faulty part? 1 month and counting for my old mobo to be repaired by ASUS.


Hmmm...I'd say it took me about 1 hour to figure out how far my box could go...
1. up the speed until it won't post.
2. Raise voltages until it does.
3. See if it will overheat, if no you keep it running, if yes you lower it back down. That's tough work.
And again, I've never lost a piece of hardware from OC? A newbie who does his homework won't either.

 

[DJSnairdA]

well i haven't overclocked yet because i still use my computer as my heater in winter Some people may be in the same situation for me, and i'm getting better than average fps and other processor hungry things. Once i upgrade my cooling i'll perhaps o/c..

 

[MrWhiteUK]

<< Hmmm...I'd say it took me about 1 hour to figure out how far my box could go... >>



I didn't say that, you could train a chimp to find out how far a comp could go, whereas troubleshooting is a different matter.

You sound lucky to me but I have known MANY people (me included) who have had a nightmare time trying to find OC related problems.



<< It's a risk/reward situation for the overclocker. >>



You obviously have enough free time and no important work to do to take that risk, me no.

Even if overclocking increased the risk of failure by 0.1% I still wouldn't do it, I have had enough computer releated stress to last me 10 lifetimes, I just want an stress free life with a stable comp. Jeees is that a grey hair! :disgust:

 

[LuNoTiCK]

I dont because my cpu doesnt overclock much, and I would have to raise the voltage up to max to get so little of an overclock, and I definately think thats not worth it.

 

[PentiumIV]

I'd like to divide my answer into 2 parts: why I am interested in OC'ing,
and why I don't do it.

When people overclock they are basically utilizing system margins. For example, some CPU was specified to run at 1.4Ghz, but can readily do 1.7GHz. If yo've got one, you are lucky. But , in general, determining Fmax requires a special test suite, that I don't have at home

The &quot;exotic&quot; thermal solutions (copper heatsinks, etc.) are quite interesting for thermal management of some future, hotter CPUs If someone wants to check frequency scaling of CPUs, then OC is generally OK.


I personally don't OC for 2 reasons.

1. My MB doesn't support overclocking

2. If I would overclock, some undetected speedpath can probably cause hangup or some silent data corruption (which is far worse). Also, due to higher stress, the comonent life is shortened due to overclocking.

Gregory A. Pribush, iMPG.
Not speaking for Intel, of course...

 

[Degenerate]

My friend said to me &quot; i am a cheap ass &quot; why i have no idea.

 

[TunaBoo]

<< &quot;Most of what I've read in this thread is FUD...&quot;

You tend to overlook the more important point then, don't you? That being HEAT! Sure, you can overcome that obstacle with more fans, but who wants to listen to that crap?

BTW, I OC the sh|t out of my Intel based machines using stock HS/Fans only. If more than that is required... F* it! >>



I have 4 panflo L1a's and a glaciator, and a nice power supply. My system is no louder than a system that has just 1 fan because of my 7/12 volt mods and good quality fans.

To the person who said people who OC don't do real things on their computers... what do you consider real things? I am a CS major and do school work on it - thats real things. If you have any brains, overclocking can give you 100% stability.

Also, I got a 40% OC with my retail AMD HSF, and my temp never goes over 43C.

 

[nortexoid]

what about the people who don't overclock and use high quality low noise fans?...it's even quieter than yours...

i can't stand a loud system...i'd consider undervolting/clocking to get a system cool enough to run passively cooled.

 

[Nevo]

Why don't I overclock?

Rather simple, really. Here at the office, most all of my work is done with email and two database driven apps.

No matter how fast my CPU is, it's not going to make a bit of difference to how fast my email program can retrieve email from the server, how fast my queries run on the back-end server, or how fast I can serve my customers.

It might make a difference to my word processing program: it could wait for my next keystroke twice as fast!

Tell me, in my situation, why WOULD I overclock? I'd take all the risks and see NO benefit. For business users such as myself, overclocking makes no sense whatsoever.

 

[randomlinh]

why do you care so much if ppl overclock? Some ppl just don't want to risk burning out the CPU trying to reach that &quot;maximum potential.&quot; And some ppl don't like to mod things, and want a computer almost silent. And frankly, sometimes its not worth the time if you have that 1.4Ghz.. you just need it to run... maybe you have a life other than computers and want to go out and etc....

and your comment about a 20GB defragging 3 seconds faster on an 850 vs 800... ummmmm... hrmmm.. wow.

 

[apoppin]

<< Why Do People Not OC? >>



1.)Fear.
2.) Uncertainty.
3.) Unwillingness to experiment or 'push the envelope'.
4.) No need. They have the money to spend on the fastest proc for their needs.
5.) Laziness or lack of time.
6.) Lack of knowledge about overclocking.
7.) Overclocking misconceptions.
8.) Conservativism.

I can probably think of more excuses.

That said, there seems to be less of a reason to overclock today (with faster and cheaper CPUs) than previously.

Gamers seem to be more likely to overclock to get that extra FPS than a business or even graphics user.

 

[TunaBoo]

<< why do you care so much if ppl overclock? Some ppl just don't want to risk burning out the CPU trying to reach that &quot;maximum potential.&quot; And some ppl don't like to mod things, and want a computer almost silent. And frankly, sometimes its not worth the time if you have that 1.4Ghz.. you just need it to run... maybe you have a life other than computers and want to go out and etc....

and your comment about a 20GB defragging 3 seconds faster on an 850 vs 800... ummmmm... hrmmm.. wow. >>



If you don't like to mod things that is fine and a valid excuse not to overclock. My computer is so silent I cannot hear it over the background noise where I am; overclocked computers are loud computers is a misconception. All the time I am at 100% load on my 1.4 GHz, so having it any slower would slow me down. Encoding DVD's is much faster now. Encoding mp3's is also. Windows runs smoother. I do many other things than computers, but you are not seeing the entire point of this thread. If you can take how your system is now and not do anything, many people could bump it up 200 MHz with no problems at ALL. The change in temp will not be noticeable even on a stock HSF. The poster who mentioned answering e-mails and doing backend searches had a valid point. For that kind of work it would offer no benefit. For your weak cries about how I have no life and this I overclock, or that I never get out is just blatant ignorance.

 

[chuckieland]

i don't overclock because i have a cdrw
and i heard that cdrw don't like overclock

 

[TunaBoo]

<< i don't overclock because i have a cdrw
and i heard that cdrw don't like overclock >>




See thats a false rumor. Time to OC

 

[Raspewtin]

<< Why Do People Not OC? >>



by the time i feel comfortable with oc'ing a system, it is so far behind the curve it would be pointless. when i get a new system, it's so far above what i need i don't need to overclock. that one point in the middle when oc'ing would help, i forget all about it.

 

[dowxp]

i OC because i have to. it saves me money... 700@933..

 

[MrWhiteUK]

<< See thats a false rumor. Time to OC >>



Yah, 'cos running a higher bus is good for peripherals.

 

[HansXP]

I don't because it's meaningless. Beyond getting a better score in some benchmark, I'll never noticed that extra speed. Maybe if we were still using P3s @ 500 MHz, it would matter to me...but I'm using a 1.2 GHz Athlon and I very much doubt that accelerating it to 1.4 GHz would improve anything. But doing that would create more heat, lessen stability, void the warrenty, etc. I don't have the time to deal with all of that.

 

[Ahz]

I don't overclock because tangible benefits are rarely there. Where stability can drop like a rock.

I don't give two @$#$ if my 3dmarks go up 100 points or whatever, I care If I can see a difference in my PC. Stability is king and I've seen many many chips slowly die over a period of months or years because of overclocking. Whereas they would still be running solid today if they haven't been o'clocked.

Sure you could read up on the latest mainboards, power supplies, cases, fans, heatsinks, WCPUREDITBLAHBLAH tweaks to get maximum stability out of your machine at some off-the-wall FSB spec. But why waste the time? It's a waste of my time, thats for certain.

 

[ST4RCUTTER]

Bottom line.

If you have the knowledge and skill to perform overclocking do it, it works and it works well. If you're not sure what you're doing or are concerned about the risk, don't. I've never heard of overclocking causing data loss, but anything can happen. I wouldn't grab a hose and jump into a burning building, but overclocking is something I know how to do.

 

[randomlinh]

ok, maybe my comment was a lowball attack, but look at what you do? DVD encoding, mp3 ecoding... things that require 110% of your cpu. So yeah, theres a point to overclocking. But for the ppl who do regular internet stuff, and light gaming, will they care? no. Probably the simplest reason is they are lazy and just don't want to risk it? Have you ever tried to push the envelope and ended up w/ a fried processor? After a couple times, you just don't feel like doing it no more (now, don't try to apply this to real life or something, this is strictly to overclocking you cpu, nothing majorly important). Then you go around w/ your story and it puts apoppin's number one and two fear and uncertainty in their minds.

 

[ToBeMe]

A better question would be &quot;Why O/C&quot;???????

The only reasons to are:
1)To gain bragging rights
2)To acheive better B/M scores
3)To push your CPU to it's limit

These days, with a LOT of systems, especially in this forum, running at at least 1G.........what's the real point except for the aforementioned????

While I'm writing a letter, sending email, doing billing, or surfing the web.........am I going to see any discernable difference if my 1.3 is at 1.5???? or, if my 1.7 is at 2.0????? The answer is.....No!

If I want to go out and B/M my systems to beat others.......sure, I have the ability and knowhow to do it whenever I care to........but.......if I'm just doing everyday tasks......why should I??????

The simple fact is, heat is your CPU's worst enemy and for many O/C'ers, upping the voltage to achieve maximum O/C is standard......even if you can run stable at default core voltage the simple act of O/C'ing the CPU WILL produce more heat! Yes, it's simple to run a decent H/S Fan combo and disapate this increase in heat.......but, it's also fairly certain that O/C'ing will shorten it's life. Big deal right! yeah, to a lot of us that upgrade often it's not......but to an awful lot of people buying a new CPU every 3 or even 6 months is not an option so why would the want to take the chance on shortening it's life span at all????

O/C'ing is fun and easy........for some people......but, in this day of 1.7G &amp; 1.4+G CPU's........the gains, except in Benchmarking are so minimal.......&quot;Why O/C???&quot;!!!

 

[Ahz]

<< Bottom line.

If you have the knowledge and skill to perform overclocking do it, it works and it works well. >>



No, that isn't the bottom line. I build, troubleshoot and repair dozens of computers a week for a living. I know how to overclock very well, but it's not in my interest anymore. Back in the days where Pentium II 450's were the fastest and most expensive chips on the market, overclocking your Celeron 300A to 450 made sense. Now you get Athlons for cheaper than Celerons and gains from overclocking are nowhere near 50%.

It's a waste of time for many people.

 

[Reverber]

MYself I just dont know how to OC.Does anyone have links to wehre i can learn?

 

[MrWhiteUK]

<< If you have the knowledge and skill to perform overclocking do it >>



...and the time, the patience, ear plugs...

I have the knowledge and skill but I ain't gonner do it.

OC'ing takes huge amounts of time and patience to do it properly, extra fans, extra noise, bigger psu's.

Usually ends up costing more than buying the faster chip in the first place.

I'll just skip all that and pay for that extra few Mhz.

But OC'ing because it's fun is a different matter.

People that whinge 'cos their (fill in blank) doesn't run very far outta spec are even worse.


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